Comb Cell Research Articles

Rhythms in acoustical communication by the oriental hornet, vespa orientalis

By analysis of the acoustical spectrum within the nest of the oriental hornet, three distinct and characteristic categories of sounds have been recognized: (a) Hunger signals produced by the hungry larvae through the scraping of their mandibles against the comb cell walls; (b) sounds which the workers, arranged in a ‘resting circle’ around the queen, produce by tapping their abdomens on the surfaces of the cells. These sounds are temporarily designated as ‘the taps of workers facing the queen’; and (c) additional worker sounds, also produced as in (b) but of a different rhythm, which have been designated in earlier publications as the ‘awakening taps of workers’ (Ishay & Schwartz 1965; Schaudeinischley & Ishay 1968; Ishay & Landau 1972; Ishay & Schwartz 1973). The particular ‘beat’ (spcificity) of each of the three sound groups has been investigated in an attempt to understand the significance of rhythms as a means of communication among hornets.